HOW THE LEFT-BEHIND BEASTS BUILT ARARAT

by Norma Farber ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 31, 1978

In the legend according to Farber, the animals Noah left behind saved themselves by literally making a mountain out of a molehill. Dismayed at the start, ""they'd be standing there still, likely as not// in the rain and the wind, the cold, the mud,/ if a cow hadn't said as she swallowed her cud:/ 'we've got to do something about this FLOOD."" Thus a committee is formed, and creatures set to work on the mound, hammering in mosses, piling up sticks and stones, working, on a step ahead of the rising water. And when it's done and the builders are crowded on the peak, ""Shouts vaulted up in the slackening rain./ The Ark was unloading the animals twain./ And all the earth's beasts were together again."" Cleverly done, if incidental--and though Frasconi's rough woodcuts could use some of his old dash, he does some amusing bits with waves and fishes.

Pub Date: May 31, 1978

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Walker

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 1978

Categories: CHILDREN'S